Toyman

I had a large group heading south out of Whitney Friday afternoon where the typical third or forth sled (green AC?) was trying to keep up and ended up sideways in front of me on a sweeping right curve showering me in a white out of snow and ice. Not impressed to say the least. On my return trip back down the same B106E I came across a large group where the young guy (green AC?) had hit a tree and at a minimum all the plastics and windshield were smashed. A lot of unhappy people, but the mother gave me a thumbs up as I slowly moved through. Good use of a parked sled tucked in to th

I have noticed the trend of non slowing by many more sleds this year. Especially when oncoming passing. There's usually following sleds that can't move to the right, let alone stay right as they are not set up correctly and wandering all over the trail. There lack of experience and set up has them trying to signal following when they need to use both hands to fight their sled over to the right instead. Leads should brief priority and positioning. Don't get me started on stopped sleds or non sledding traffic. The number of times I've come to a group that has sleds stopped in th

I was surprised at the difference in snowfall during that storm. Starting Tuesday, I was just south and west of those areas touring around Whitney, Lake St Peter, Bancroft, McAurthors Mills and Mazinaw Lake areas and only pushed 5" of pow in some trails and lots of fresh groom. When I made the returned trip home on Friday past Barry's Bay and on to Pembroke there was substantially more snow depth. I had a hard time on the last 10kms of unmaintained road to get to my house. The end of that road, which is 100' from my house, was plowed up with a 10' bank from the snowplow. What a

Haven't been up to Liskeard this year, probably won't. Just spent the past four days around Barrys Bay, Lake St Peter and South and East of Bancroft covering 1250 kms of fresh groomed trails. Week days there are great, and mornings are awesome to rack on the miles before the trails get soft and trashed. Not sure what he chose, hope he enjoys!

This reopening is a little late for me, have already made other plans for the next few weeks and unfortunately won't be in these districts now. Usually book a few nights and enjoy the Mattawa/Northbay trails for a couple of weeks in Feb but not this year. Sorry local businesses. Hope others can enjoy there great trails.

I took the B from Pembroke to Whitney today. Was disappointingly soft and blown out every corner due to the dry fluff snow we had this week. The railbed was great in to Whitney and the B106E south to Lake St Peter was excellent. E109 to Barry's Bay was soft and blown out but the 155 in stead of the B back towards Pembroke was smooth but narrow. Great ride really. Think it was about a 350km loop but not totally sure as I blew a fuse and lost the display. Should be a great weekend around Whitney but the soft snow will turn rough quick.

I have sent you two PM's Puggz, thanks.

Got back out this week on Wednesday to the area again to hit as many trails as possible. The rail bed coming in to and through Pembroke and Petawawa are pretty good considering there is minimal snow coverage and still rocks scattered in the usual trouble spots. Pipeline has greatly improved up through Chalk to Deep with the only rough area leaving Pet to the first road crossing on the Base. The A continued to be excellent past Rolphton, Stonecliffe and, before you know it, up to Deux Rivière and 200kms done. The only thin area was the hydo line section. No

I was out for my second ride of the season on Tuesday (3 days ago) and headed out from home to check out the trails up to Deux Rivières. The pipeline from Pembroke was thin and lot's of low brush through the groomer pass. Shared use trail just before Deep River was the usual rough section but I removed lots of rocks from trail. The magic starts west of Deep. The A was really good for what little base we have all the way up to the 197 loop, that was it's usual excellent condition. Didn't get to ride the other 190 loops but did the 131. It was rough on the west end and great on the

Maybe. I have only worn a couple of different balaclavas but never had any noticable effect. Maybe it's time to shave that beard you grew this year! I'll be shaving mine tomorrow!

I have been using a BV2S for the last several years and when it finally started to fog it was because I wore out the yellow rubber face cup. The rubber got thin and too soft to make a proper seal. Replaced that part as well as modifying the center or main breath box valve by adding an additional hole to allow more air in during mild conditions. I now have a solid, one, three and four hole valves made to cover the whole temp range. These helmets still work great for me. Mine is the heated visor but is only plugged in and used during freezing rain.

Always had 4 strokes so am well aware of the added weight. Had one of my daughters following me on my Venture, on an RX1 a few years back. First down a local club trail too soon after the first groomer pass of the season. Trail crossed a stream and I felt my track break through as I passed, but momentum carried me over. She was not as lucky and that short track sunk in 3' of water with the skis and half the front sticking up. Wouldn't budge and it was cold. Short 2 up ride to the nearest country house to borrow a come-along to pull that heavy overbuilt sled out. Sled was nea

No plans for new toys yet, still have lots. This sale just makes more physical room for the seasonal shuffle as well as the room for maintenance. Have two sets of ATV tires to change before the spring. My wife thinks the cash will go towards scuba dry suits so I better save it. Merry Christmas and sweet sledding dreams!

I sold my 2010 Venture GT for $7.5k last week. Didn't really want to, but it was a spare sled and I can use the cash and now have extra room in the toy garage!

That's right, I never got over to D5 as most trails were late and limited. Planned a RAP tour again this year but never did it due to trails on west side of park. I will use this data to help book next years trips.